Three events less on 2009 LPGA slate

Nov 20, 2008 - 6:36 AM WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Ticker) - The global financial crisis has taken a bite out of the LPGA Tour.

The tour announced its 2009 schedule on Wednesday and it features 31 events, down from 34 in 2008.

The average tournament purse will remain close to the same at $1.767 million with total prize money dropping from just over $60 million to almost $55 million.

The 31 events on the schedule will be played in 10 countries.

"Each year the schedule evolves with a natural ebb and flow of events but, like many businesses and individuals, the state of the global economy has resulted in a slightly different tournament landscape for 2009," LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens said. "Despite the economic challenges the LPGA is in strong financial condition."

The Tour will start in Hawaii in February with the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. The final event of the season will be the Stanford Financial Tour Championship held in Houston, Texas.

This week's ADT Championship, which has a first prize of $1 million and closes the 2008 schedule, is one of the four events not on the 2009 schedule. The Fields Open in Hawaii, Ginn Tribute in South Carolina and The Safeway International in Arizona are also gone because of sponsorship issues.

An event in Thailand is being added from February 26-March 1.